Nowhere Kids
by XNegAttentionX
Summary: Jack run's away from his abusive home to find himself on the street, introduced to a life more grim than he could imagine. Focuses mainly on Jack, Bobby and an OC.
1. Chapter 1

Jack awoke with a start in the middle of the night from the loud crash of glass as it smashed against the hardwood floor that his entire house was furnished in. He knew it had been quiet for too long. Things were going well for once in his life, his foster parents were getting along and he was happy, doing well in school, his self-esteem was even starting to repair itself. He looked at his door, waiting for the noise that would come shortly after signaling that it was more than an accident.

When the second loud crash sounded throughout the house Jack jumped off of his bed and went to his hiding place. He threw the closet door open, turning the light on and leaving the door open a crack, then crept underneath the bed. He had been doing this for years, sometimes it worked in fooling the drunk monster that was his foster father into believing that he had been in the closet, but had since then left the room, sometimes it didn't and he found him moments later.

Jack shook beneath his bed, a frail, undernourished empty shell of a thirteen year old boy. He hated the night when he was more susceptible to the torture that was inflicted upon him. During the day, his foster father could see Jack's face and left him alone for the most part, with only a few discouraging remarks here and there, but at night, the lights were off, only the stars shone and even they were dimmed by the smog of the city.

The footsteps neared his room and his shaking becoming a violent, uncontrollable thing. He dug his finger nails into his flannel clad thigh, hoping that the pain might help the shaking to cease. The door was thrown open and Jack quickly scurried further towards the back. His foster father stumbled towards the lit closet, mumbled something angrily and incoherently. He swung the closet door open and when Jack wasn't there it didn't take more than a moment for him to realize where he was.

Angrily, he pulled on the long chain that controlled the light in the closet, turning the only source of light off and then fell to the floor with a loud thud. He peered underneath the bed and Jack stopped breathing, trying to remain as still as he could. With his eyes closed and no movement at all he had a miniscule chance. However, it didn't work that night.

Jack's foster father called out to him, promising not to hurt him. He reached out for the boy's ankle and harshly yanked on it. Jack was helpless as he slid across the hardwood floor, desperately clawing at it, hoping that his nails would catch onto a loose floorboard, anything to stop him from being dragging by the monster. However, no such relief was granted to him.

Without a word, or even a second to think, his foster father pulled him up from the floor and tossed him across the room as he if was a limp rag doll. Jack hit the wall with a loud thud, his fall to the floor, his face smack into the corner of his bedside table on the way down. He brought his knees up to his chest, trying to make himself as small as possible as the man neared him. He could hear the unclasping of a metal belt buckle and waited in dread of the noise the leather made as it whipped harshly against his skin. He counted each loud crack it made as he felt the sting of the belt on his skin. He tried his best not to cry out in pain, it only gave the bastard a sick sort of pleasure when he did, and closed his eyes tightly, attempting to project himself out of the hell that he was going through.

Before he could go anywhere in his mind, he heard the belt drop to the floor and felt two large, meaty hands grab at his already aching flesh and pull him up from the floor. He was limp from pain and could barely move as his foster father threw him onto the bed. Jack fell onto it, nearly bouncing off of it. He coughed softly, tasting blood in his mouth, he spit it out onto his bed and gasped for air. His foster father yelled at him and he laid there motionless, as the man grabbed him again and turned him over so that Jack lay on his stomach, his face buried in the thickness of his mattress, so close to his own blood that he had just coughed up that he could smell it.

Jack couldn't do anything to defend himself. He knew that in just moments the man that he had been told was there to protect him would violate him just like he had so many times before. He laid there, felt his skin slowly being exposed to the cold air, and then he felt his insides being torn apart. As he waited for it to end the pressure reached his stomach, the bile from it being pushed out and rising his throat. He bit back the tears as the pounding increased.

Luckily, the monster finished fast, the asshole was always consistent in that. What he wasn't consistent in, however, was what happened afterwards. Sometimes, he would just leave Jack alone on the bed and walk out of the room, smugly satisfied, but this night, he wasn't done. He picked up the boy and launched him at the wall. Jack threw his arms up to cover his face and the skin on his arm caught on a nail where a picture once hung. As he fell to the floor in a heap, the nail tore through his thin flesh and he screamed out in pain.

That was what did it, the scream that Jack let out. His foster father laughed smugly then left the room, leaving Jack in pain on the floor. As soon as the door slammed shut Jack didn't hold back anymore. The tears he had been holding back the entire time flew freely from his eyes and he sobbed uncontrollably.

Once he regained composure of himself, he slowly stood up, leaning onto the wall for help. He walked over to his closet and grabbed the bag that he had come there with. He filled it with anything he could find that he knew he would need, deciding that it was time to leave. He dropped the bag onto the floor and quickly dressed. Without a thought as to where he was going or what he was going to do, Jack opened the window and climbed out. He carefully stepped down to the edge of the roof and jumped off, falling and landing badly on his side. He grasped his side in pain but made no noise in fear that he would be heard. Then, as quickly as he could, he got to his feet and disappeared into the darkness.

An hour later he found himself in the middle of a particularly bad part of Detroit. He walked down the streets, hiding his badly bruised face behind his hoodie. He grew tired only moments later and stopped walking just in front of a street where the trade was less than legal.

"Are you okay, sweetie?" a voice asked from a little bit away.

"What?"

"Are you okay?" she repeated.

Jack looked up from behind his hoodie and saw a girl a little bit older than him standing a little bit away. She looked at him worriedly and slowly walked over to him. Jack watched the way she moved as she made her way towards him. She had the walk of someone who knew how to entice the opposite sex. She smiled softly, almost as if she were laughing, and when she reached his side she placed a gentle hand on his arm. She took in the bruise with her eyes and her touch, a chill rushing through Jack's body as she did. He looked up at her and he noticed her eyes on him. They were a warm brown with depth and compassion directed towards him that he hadn't seen before.

"Yeah," Jack replied, pulling on his hoodie, trying to cover his face.

"I haven't seen you around here before," the girl said/

"That's because I haven't been here before," he answered.

"Are you cold?" she asked.

"I'm okay."

"No, you're not," she replied. She grabbed his hand and dragged him with her. "I have a place where you can get warm. It's not very clean or anything, but it's warmer and safe…For the time being."

"For the time being?"

"Nothing here is safe for long, that's the one thing you learn out here," she informed him, looking at him sadly. She continued walking through the brisk autumn night, pulling him along with her, carefully where she squeezed his arm. "Don't you have a family that's going to worry about you?"

"No. They don't care about me." He looked down at the ground as they walked, unable to keep her gaze. "No one does."

"I'm sure that's not true. You're a sweet boy, and even though it may not mean much, I care about you already. So you must have tons of people who care about you."

"No, you're the first."

"Lucky me."

The way she said those words, Jack could tell she wasn't being sarcastic. She was endearing, more so than anyone he had ever known or was supposed to call family, and he had only just met her. He watched her walk a little bit in front of him, the tails of her coat soaring in the wind that passed by her. She dragged him around the corner and walked over to a large, decrepit building that looked like it had long ago been a factory. She dropped his arm and took a hold of a large piece of plywood that had been a makeshift door. She looked back at Jack and nodded towards the building.

"It may not be much, but like I said, warmer and safe."

Jack took a few steps toward the building and looked into the whole that had become a doorway. He saw a strong light coming from a fire pit inside and slowly walked inside, noticing the people there. He stopped only a few feet from the entrance and waited for the girl to enter before he did anything else. He didn't know this place after all, he didn't want to offend anyone who might be there by intruding.

"It's okay," she said.

She gently rested her hand on his back, directly over his forming bruise hidden by his clothing. It was unintentional, but the weight of her hand on his injury caused him more pain and he winced softly.

"I'm sorry," she whispered. She removed her hand and started to walk towards the fire pit. "Come with me."

Jack obeyed, there was something in her voice that made him trust this person that he hadn't even learned the name of. She glanced back at him as they walked towards the pit. As they neared it, Jack noticed older metal folding chairs and pillows with ripped hems strewn hap-hazardously around it. She quickly bent down to gather up the pillows and threw them into a pile, she instructed Jack to sit there and then she disappeared into one of the dark corners of the room. Jack quickly sat down, the heat from the fire quickly starting to warm him. He held out his hands let the licks of the flame near his skin.

"Be careful," the girl said, running over to him. "I don't have anything for burns."

Looking up at her, Jack noticed a first aid kit hand from her long fingers. She plopped down onto the pillows beside him and unlocked the case, carefully unpacking it before them. He scanned the bottles in front of him, reading the labels in his head. He could tell from the things that she was unpacking that she knew there was more than just the obvious contusions wrong with him.

"Um, I need to look at your wounds," she said softly.

Jack looked at her eyes and knew instantly that she wasn't going to hurt him intentionally. Carefully, Jack reached for the zipper on his jacket and slowly undid it, letting it fall off of his shoulders and to the dusty cement ground. He reached for the edge of his sweatshirt and gently pulled it up over his head, revealing the t-shirt he was wearing underneath. He left the last shirt on, not wanting to expose himself entirely to the cold or reveal all his abrasions until he had to.

Just on his arms he had at least three huge gashes on each one. The girl observed them for a moment and then quickly went to work on cleaning them. She reached for the bottle of alcohol and doused the gauze she had with it. She looked up at him and smiled sympathetically.

"This might hurt a bit," she warned him.

Closing his eyes, Jack waited for the sting of the alcohol and cringed softly as soon as it started. The girl winced along with him, feeling his pain as she tried to gently apply that medicine. She kept her eyes on the abrasions, finding the look on his face to hard to bear. Once she was done, she gently dropped the used, reddened, gauze to the floor and reached out to embrace the side of his face. Jack's eyes shot open, not used to such kindness in a touch and she removed her hand.

"What are those from?" she asked. She looked at his arms as she wrapped fresh bandages around them. "Most of them look like they're from repeated hits to the arm from leather or something like it, but I could be wrong."

"A belt," Jack answered meekly.

"And this one?" she questioned, running her hand over a gash that was too deep and jagged to be caused from the whip of a belt.

"A nail."

"Sadistic bastard," she muttered under her breath. She looked up at Jack and noticed the split lip. She grabbed another piece of gauze, poured something from another bottle onto it and then pressed it against his lip. "I wish I could do something for your bruises, but my resources are limited at best."

"It's okay." Jack placed his hand over his and looked over at her. "Thank you."

"It's not a problem. A lot of injuries you have to deal with in my professional, you get used to it," she said.

"Profession? You don't seem the type."

"You don't even know my name, how can you possibly know what type I am?"

"Well, what's your name?" Jack asked.

"Bailey," she replied. "And you are?"

"Jack."

"I've always liked that name."

Bailey smiled and stood up, she walked to the other end of the room and brought back an old blanket. She handed it to Jack and sat back down next to him.

"It's not the warmest thing ever, but it's better than nothing," she said.

"Thank you. I don't know what I would have done if-"

"Don't worry about it," she replied, shaking her head. "You look kind of young to be out on the streets by yourself."

"I'm probably the same age as you."

"How old are you?"

"Thirteen."

"A baby," she replied, smiling. "I'm fifteen."

"Two years, what a difference," Jack replied, sarcastically.

"It can be a huge difference," she said. Bailey reached around Jack and wrapped the blanket around his shoulders. "Things about me that you're not going to want to know."

"I want to know everything."

"No, you don't," she said, shaking her head. "I'm not the girl you think I am."

"Yes, you are," he replied, a bit too eagerly. "I mean, you're nice…What caused you to be here was probably beyond your control like me."

"I'm a hooker, Jack, I'm whatever anyone wants me to be. And as for what brought me here, you have no idea, so don't assume that you do. You're still a child."

"A child?" he asked, incredulously. "I am not a child. No one is a child after they go through what I've gone through."

Bailey looked over at the fire and brought her knees up to her chest. She sighed gently and jut sat there, the two of them not speaking. After a few moments the scraping of the plywood makeshift door across the concrete startled the two of them. Bailey stood up and ran towards it, meeting someone just as they entered.

"There's a request for you," the girl said.

"Who?" Bailey asked. "It better not be that fuckin' asshole Jay or I swear-"

"Nah, it's that Mercer guy I think." Bailey nodded and turned back towards Jack. "I gotta go, stay here…I'll be back in a few hours."

* * *

**The title of the story comes from the song "Nowhere Kids" by Smile Empty Soul (Check them out, they're really underrated).**

**Should I continue?**

**Also, anyone want to beta for me? I know I have some issues with careless errors so anyone want to help?**


	2. Chapter 2

Bailey walked out of abandoned warehouse and over to the familiar beaten up Caddy. She leaned into the passenger side window, a smirk that she had perfected from her near two years of life on the streets seductively spreading out across her face. She looked over at the driver, the same young man with slicked back dark hair and tough face with deep set wrinkles despite his young age.

"Lookin' for a date?" she asked, laughing. It was all just a game she played, she was trying to hurt him.

"I hate it when you do that," he whispered, looking down at the dashboard of his car.

"Do what?" she questioned. "My job?"

"Get in the car we need to talk."

"Talk?" She bit her bottom lip and cocked her head to the side. "I don't get paid to talk, Mercer. So I don't think that's going to work."

"I'll pay you."

For the first time since Bailey walked over to the car, Bobby looked up at her. He looked at her like a disapproving father would, which was the last thing she needed, but it worked. She pulled open the passenger side door and slid into the car without another word. Bobby pressed his foot hard on the gas and sped out onto the main road.

Bailey rested her forehead to the window, the cool glass sending a chill down her spine. She sighed and watched the breath escaping her lungs create a cloud of fog on the glass. The car ride was awkward neither one of them spoke. If he had been a trick, Bailey would have put on all her charm, innocent flutters of her eyelashes, a smirk here there, the occasional giggle. Bobby Mercer, however, wasn't a trick.

"What the fuck you still doin' on the streets, Bail?" Bobby asked, pulling into the parking lot of a local diner.

"What the fuck you still doin' out of jail, Bob?" she mocked. She looked over at him and groaned, banging her head against the window. "I'm out on the streets so that I can get paid for something I'm very talented at." She pulled her head away from the glass and looked over at him. "Ask any one of my clients, I fuck like no one else can."

"If you're trying to hurt me, you've accomplished it," he replied. He pulled into a parking space and cut the engine. "Grab the coat on the backseat and put it on, you look like a fuckin' whore."

"But I am a whore."

Bobby threw open the car door and stepped out as Bailey grabbed the coat. She opened the door and got out, throwing the coat on, covering her less than demure clothing. Without looking back to see if she was following Bobby walked into the diner instinctively knowing she would be behind him. He held the door open behind him, letting Bailey walk in before him and followed her to their usual booth.

"You look halfway decent," Bobby remarked, sliding into the seat.

"I'll take that as a compliment," she replied. She slouched down so that her she was barely visibly behind the table. Bobby swiftly kicked her and she sat up. "Could you be any less tactful?"

"Says the fifteen year old wearing two pounds of fuckin' makeup on her face," he muttered. "You know, you don't need that shit. You always…"

Bobby let his voice drift off as the waitress walked over. She was an older lady, rundown looking and Bailey couldn't help but to laugh. She glared down at the laughing teenager and threw the menus down onto the table. As she walked away, Bobby looked over at Bailey disapprovingly.

"Yak know, she's probably gonna spit in our damn food now," he muttered.

"Tell me she doesn't look like she gave one too many suck and blows for money along her path to her career goal of waitressing," Bailey whispered, leaning forward and smirking giddily.

Laughing despite himself, Bobby nodded and opened his menu. Bailey moved back in her seat and brought her feet up on the edge of bench, cradling her knees to her chest. She started to rock back and forth, turning her head to face the window, watching the cars zoom past on the main road.

"Why is it that every time you're indoors you act like you're trapped?" Bobby questioned, looking up.

"I get claustrophobic in crowded places," she replied. "I thought you of all people would have remembered that."

Bailey started to hum softly, still rocking slightly. She rested her head on her knees and closed her eyes, trying to project herself out of where she was. Bobby watched her, taking in the sight of the younger girl. Her long dark hair was tangled and dirty, her pale face covered in far too much make-up for someone her age. As sat there, eye closed and fidgeting, she looked even younger than the fifteen years that she was.

"I can feel you starin' at me asshole," she said, her eyes still closed.

"I start to think how innocent and young you are and then you remind me how fuckin' evil you are when you go and say shit like that," he muttered, shaking his head.

"I learn from the best," she replied. She opened her eyes and noticed the waitress walking back towards their table. "Queen of the B.J.'s is comin' back."

The waitress hulked back over and took their orders. Bailey resisted the urge to laugh this time and behaved herself while she was there. As soon as she walked away, however, she let out a soft laugh and continued to rock back and forth. Her humming started up again and Bobby smirked, the song familiar to him.

"Mom used to sing that to us every night, even when I protested that I was too old to be tucked in and sung to," Bobby said. He smirked and looked up at his baby sister. "I still hear her sometimes at night."

"Me, too."

"You look like her."

"I do?"

"Same damn smile and eyes, even got her hair. You'd look a hell of a lot more like her if you stopped painting your face with that shit you call make-up," he remarked.

"Do you miss her? I do. I think about her a lot of the time." Bailey slid her feet off of the bench so that she was sitting normally. "I think about how ashamed she'd be of me and how I turned out. This wasn't the future she planned for me."

"This wasn't the future she had planned out for either of us. Besides, I have more to be ashamed of than you do."

"You don't know half of the shit I've done, Bobby, how can you be so sure about that?"

"Because it's my fault you're on the street. If I hadn't fuckin' stolen that car I wouldn't have end up in juvie…You wouldn't have end up with those people…You wouldn't have ended up on the streets when you were fuckin' thirteen…"

"It's not your fault. Besides, we found each other, things could always be worse." She laughed and pulled down on the long sleeves of her coat. "I can deal the bad years as long as I know that eventually things will get better. I mean, fuck, things are already looking up. I mean, it only took a couple years for us to find each other again."

"Yeah, only seven years," he muttered. He looked over at her, his expression serious. "You know, things could be a lot better than how they are now very soon."

"How so?" Bailey asked, looking at him, no longer fidgeting.

"Remember that lady I was telling you about last week? The one that took me in when I got outta juvie? I told her about you, she wants you to come visit and-"

"No."

"Bail, you didn't even let me finish."

"I am not gonna be some other person's burden. Never again."

"You wouldn't be a burden. Fuck, she took me in, can you think of anyone worse than me?" he questioned. He leaned forward and rested his elbows on the table between the two of them. "She's a great person, Bail, just fuckin' meet with her."

"No. I refuse to hurt anyone else by exposin' them to me. I'm like fuckin' fire, Bobby, people get too close to me and they get hurt."

Bailey placed her hand on the side of her face, exasperated by her brother's continuous attempts to help her. She was going to help herself and no one was going to aide her in anyway. In her eyes she had brought her fate upon herself and if she had to go through hell to be reborn, so be it.

Bobby saw so much of their mother in her as she tried to push him away. Their mother was stubborn and persistent just like that. However, Bobby knew that no matter how much Bailey idolized their mother, she was too young to know the whole truth about her when she died, how she died. He was trying to prevent her from going down that same road, but he had to be delicate with her. One push too hard and she would be lost to him. She had just found his little sister again merely months ago, he wasn't prepared to lose her again.

"I hate the idea of some fuckin' pervert pawin' you," Bobby admitted. "I don't want you gettin' hurt."

"I'll be fine." She smiled and pushed her hair behind her ears, leaning closer to her brother. "I haven't even shot up since you helped me kick it. I fuckin' hated you that week, but I feel better." Bailey eagerly rolled up the jacket's sleeves and exposed her arms to Bobby. "See? No new track marks."

"Proud of ya, Bail."

Bobby closed his eyes, hating the reminder that his sister was pretty far gone when he found her. She had seen and done more things than any fifteen year old should have when he came across her, so she had been using to numb herself. The image of his baby sister, the one he held in his arms when she was first born, with a needle sticking out of her arm, as she laid in a corner strung out flashed into his mind. He rubbed his eyes furiously, as if it would help to make the image dissipate. It had been three months since he found her like that. He had rented a hotel room the next day and taken her there, trying his best for a week to help her detox. It was a week full of Bailey screaming in pain and throwing up from the withdrawals of the poison she regularly injected herself with. Heroin wasn't something to fuck with, Bobby learned it first hand while he spent that week wide awake, watching his sister, afraid that if he didn't watch her she would die, or worse, sneak out and feed her need for it.

"Bobby?"

Hearing Bailey's voice brought him back to reality. She smirked, waving a greasy french fry in front of his face, the smell wafting in front of his nose. During his daydream their food must have arrived as his plate was before him.

"You okay?" Bailey asked, crunching on a pickle spear.

"I'm fine," he replied, shaking his head dismissively.

"I was just saying that this kid showed up on the corner tonight," she said. She looked down at her plate and swirled a fry through a puddle of ketchup. "He's as old as I was when I first showed up."

"He looking to hook up one with someone?"

"No. He ran away from home. Something about him just tells me that he had it rough wherever he's from. He had all these fuckin' cuts and bruises on him. When I started to help him he acted like no one had ever shown him the smallest bit of kindness. Kid damn near broke my heart."

"Kid? He's, what, two years younger than you?" Bobby took a big bite out of his burger and chewed, spiting out pieces of food as he spoke. "You're still a fuckin' kid."

"Damn it, close your mouth," Bailey said, laughing and throwing a balled up napkin at him. She looked down at the table and shrugged. "This boy, Jack, he's just got this air about him Bobby, I'm tellin' ya, he's been fucked with."

"You think he's gonna be one of you?"

"He's got the look. Handsome as hell, but I ain't gonna let him. As long as he listens to me he is not goin' out there sellin' himself. I don't want anyone else that age endin' up like me. I got enough shit to feel guilty about."

"Then why don 't you just send him home?"

"I can't do that either, he ran away for a reason. I told ya, all the cuts and bruises, home ain't where he needs to be," she replied. She sighed and looked up at her brother. "I just gotta keep my eye on him for the time bein'."

"Your heart's too fuckin' big, Bail."

"Yours is too, you just got a lock on it."

"I guess."

Bailey nodded and went back to her food. Bobby watched his sister, happy that he even got to see her. He shoved his hands in his pocket and felt his fingertips brush against something he had shoved in there earlier.

"Oh, fuck, I almost forgot," he said, pulling the long scarf out of his pocket. "Evelyn knitted that for you. Told me to tell you that a sweater's comin' your way next week."

"Tell her thanks for the scarf," Bailey told him, wrapping the long black thing around her neck.

"She's a good person, Bail…"

"And I don't need her help, Bob. Thanks anyway."

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
Thank You:**

**Bigamericanflirt  
LaLaLover (Yeah, it's Bobby, lol, it was kind of obvious, but I just love Bobby, he's fun to write and the second best Mercer brother. And you're not annoying, lol, I'm glad that you liked the other story so much that you decided to give this one a chance!)  
sadvirtue  
Verona sage (I'm definitely trying to make this story different in comparison to my other one...Less sappy and more dramatic...Hopefully it works out as well as the other story did though...lol.)**

**Also, thanks to Nabila, who thinks reviewing is IM'ing me...lol...At least you read it you bitch...lol, jk!**

**BTW, still looking for a beta/editor person...Anyone interested?**

**Please review! Feedback very much appreciated!**


	3. Chapter 3

**It's very short, I am aware, but I promise a longer chapter for the next one and much more action. Also, I am still looking for a Beta, I know someone offered before but since I took that like two/three month sobatical I don't know if they would still like to, so if anyone is interested please just PM, IM or E-mail...Or put it in the review!**

* * *

Jack hated the dank warehouse that Bailey left him in almost as much as he hated the room that his foster 'father' kept him locked in at night. The thing was, he didn't realize just how scary the warehouse was until Bailey had left. When she was there, there was a light in there that broke the dreary air in the room. When it was devoid of her presence the light was also gone, hiding the source of every noise and stank smell that suddenly intensified in the dark as he huddled in the corner, the blanket that she had left with him still wrapped tightly over his shoulders. 

The scraping of the makeshift door against the cement ground sounded out through the warehouse and Jack sat up instantly putting up his guard. He watched in fear as a figure emerged from the darkness. He settled only after coming to realize that it was Bailey. She turned around to close over the hole and then turned back to him, a bag hanging loosely from her wrist and a new scarf wrapped around her neck.

"I didn't mean to scare you," Bailey said, kneeling down in front of him.

"You didn't," Jack lied.

"Pardon me then," she replied, smirking softly.

Bailey gently brushed back some of his hair and let her hand linger softly on the side of Jack's face. As soon as she pulled away he felt like something was torn out of him, a part that he didn't know even existed was suddenly, and severely, missed.

"I brought you some food."

"I'm not hungry," he replied.

"Well, you look like you're starving," she said, sliding the bag off of her wrist and pushing it towards Jack. "Eat," she demanded, standing up.

Jack looked down at the bag, he really was hungry, he could feel the grumbling in his stomach intensify as the smell of whatever was in the bag wafted past his nose. Bailey had her back turned to him as she lit a match and threw it into the fire pit. He looked away from her and then back at the bad, deciding it was okay to take it.

Slowly sliding the Styrofoam container of the bag, Jack ripped it open to reveal a burger and fries. Gulping softly, he reached for the meal and brought the burger to his lips, it was cold, but the he welcomed the nourishment too eagerly, coughing uncontrollable as he swallowed much too fast. Bailey walked over behind him and placed her hand on his back.

"Slow down, sweetie," Bailey said, rubbing his back. She walked around the front of him to face him and looked him straight in the eyes. "When's the last time you've eaten?"

"I don't remember," he replied, truthfully. He wiped a dollop of ketchup away from the corner of his mouth with his sleeve and looked away from her.

"No one took care of you? No even your par-"

"My foster father, he wasn't my parent," Jack said, cutting her off angrily.

"I'm sorry," she said, getting caught off guard. She sat down and brought her knees up to her chest, watching Jack as he took yet another voracious bite from his burger. "He didn't take good care of you?"

"No…" He shook his head and snorted. "I only seemed to matter when the social worker came around."

"Social workers, they're useless, aren't they?" she questioned. She looked over at the wall and laughed bitterly. "The always come around when things are so calm and peaceful, they never see the way things really are. When you tell them that things aren't as they seem they just laugh and take the adults side. I mean, who really would believe a kid anyway."

"Yeah."

"When did you runaway?"

"A little bit before you found me," Jack answered.

"Before we found each other," she corrected. She moved closer to Jack and reached out, touching his arm where a little bit of blood had seeped through his bandages.

"What about you?"

"Two years ago…God, it feels like so much longer than that though," she replied, her voice exhausted at the memory. "Being on your own, it's not as glamorous as you imagine when you're living through the hell of an unhappy foster home."

Bailey looked down at Jack's wound and gently removed her hand from it, she had forgotten it was still lingering there. She could feel Jack's eyes on her and she looked up only to be confirmed that he was indeed looking at her. She laughed nervously, the corners of her mouth turning up in a smile. She wasn't used to getting looked at like she was more than just an object that someone could use for an hour or two. It scared her, but it also made her happy.

"Please, don't look at me like that," Bailey whispered, tearing her eyes away from Jack's.

"Why?"

"Just don't," she answered. She stood up and placed her hand on her neck. "Your bandages are bleeding through but I used all the ones I had in the kit so tomorrow I have to make a run out to get some more supplies. Right now, though, I have to go to work."

Jack looked up at her, until that moment he had forgotten yet again what she did to survive. What she probably did just to get him food for that night. He watched comb her hands through her hair and fix the way her clothes hung on her body. She looked over at him, catching him once more looking at her, but this time not the way that she had told him not to.

"There's some more blankets and a kinda useful mattress in the far corner of the room if you want to sleep," Bailey said. She walked over to the makeshift door and waited there for a moment before turning back towards him. "Promise me that you'll still be here when I get back."

When she looked back at him, Jack could see how much fear and worry were in her eyes despite how poorly lit the room was. She was twisting a ring around her finger and biting the inner corner of her lip nervously. It was the one few things that showed him she really was still a kid as well.

"I promise," he replied.

"Good…I'll be back as soon as I can."

As she slipped out the door Jack waited a few minutes before running over to the solitary window that faced the alleyway. It was stained and dirty, but he could still see out where Bailey was standing next a group of other runaways who turned to this to live. He watched her for what seemed like an hour, but could have in reality been merely minutes, before a car pulled up. He watched her walk over to the car, sticking her body in through the open passenger's side window and flirtatiously wiggle and smile. He watched her, feeling like he was miles away from her, as she pulled her upper body of the window and take a step away, she opened the car door and slowly started to get in. Just before she did though, Jack could have sworn that she looked over at the very window he was looking over of, and frown directly at him. She wanted out of the way she lived her life and he was the only one who saw just how desperate she was to do so.

* * *

**Thank You:**

**Aly K  
Bigamericanflirt (Haha, thank you so much for you kind words...I didn't undate soon, as I am sure you can tell, but I hope you still read it!)  
Embry  
Independent Fire  
LaLaLover (lol, I love writing Bobby and Jack together, so definitely expect some interaction between the two coming up soon!)  
melinda  
sadvirtue  
typokid  
WindStar**

**As well as anyone who continued to read this after that long break I took, or anyone who starts to read it now!**

**Please Review! Tell me what you think, should I continue or not???**


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: I know I haven't updated this in forever and I sincerely apologize for that. I'm hoping to update this more regularly, now that I have a precise idea where this is going and the events that take place. So please please please enjoy and review! I would love to know what you all think! And again thank you for reading despite how long it took to update, I promise to not let it go that long again. Also take note this is unbeta'd (except by me, lol) and it's like 2 am so if there are any major errors please tell me! Also, on that note, I am currently looking for a beta for this story, anyone willing?**

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

Bobby pulled his car into the driveway of his mother's house and cut the engine. He sat there, his hands tightly gripping the wheel, his knuckles turning white from the pressure. Angrily, he released his grip on the wheel and then slammed his hands down onto the dashboard with a loud, angry howl. He saw the porch light flick on, accompanying the already present light emitting from the living room and looked over at window, seeing Evelyn standing there. He knew that Evelyn was waiting up for him, she always did after he went to go visit his sister knowing the way it affected him, and yet it still surprised him to see her.

Waiting until she disappeared from sight, Bobby slammed his hands against the already abused dashboard once more. He closed his eyes, cursing under his breath and resting his head against the steering wheel. The visits were getting more difficult, he knew it was going to have end sooner or later, but he couldn't bring himself to just stop seeing her. It was his fault she was there, he was sure of it.

"Fuck!" he screamed, shoving his hands through his hair.

With a deep breath, his opened his eyes and forced himself back in his seat. He opened the car door and slid out. Making his way across the lawn to the porch, he opened the screen door and paced there a bit, needing to calm down before entering the house. His hands made fists tightly at his side and swung low at imaginary objects. He felt the angry subsiding, felt his breathing return to normal and turned towards the front door.

Bobby walked into the house, slamming the door behind him, apparently not as calm as he thought he had been. Without a glance into the living room, he walked past the living room, heading towards the kitchen and quickly grabbed a beer out of the fridge before heading back to face his mother.

When he did cross into the living room, Bobby plopped down into the chair adjacent from Evelyn. He wrapped the bottom of his shirt around his beer bottle and twisted the top off, instantly bringing the bottle up to his lips and taking a long swig from it. By the time he placed it down on the countertop it was nearly empty.

"I take it didn't go too well, sweetie," Evelyn said, noticing her son's mood.

"Nope," he replied.

"Did you talk to her about living here?" Evelyn questioned.

"Yeah, she refused."

"Is that all? Because that happens every week, Bob-"

"I know what she does," Bobby said, cutting his mother off like he hadn't heard her speak. "I know, but I never had to confront it until tonight, ma." He gritted his teeth angrily then leaned forward, resting his hands on his knees and staring down at the floor. "I waited after I dropped her off." He looked up, staring straight ahead, focusing on nothing. "I saw her get into some sick bastard's car and drive away. I followed them but I lost sight of the car after awhile. I couldn't protect her from him…I've never fuckin' felt that I couldn't keep her safe."

"Maybe I should have a talk with her," Evelyn suggested.

"No," he said, suddenly snapping his head towards her. "She'd never trust me again if I let you go see her. I need to be gentle with her or she'll just run away. That's what she does when she's scared. She runs. I can't lose her again, ma."

"I know."

"I look at her and I don't see her. She's only fifteen and she acts like she's so much older, so fuckin' jaded."

Bobby picked up his forgotten beer bottle and downed the remainder of it. He stood up to go get another when he stopped and looked over at her with a small shake of his head.

"Ya know, she told me that this kid showed up at her corner tonight, beaten and afraid. She took him in. She's gonna try to protect him and take care of him in this fuckin' crack shack when she can't even take care of her-fuckin'-self. She's gonna crash soon and I can't stop it," he said.

"Maybe, this kid showing up isn't a bad thing," Evelyn commented.

"How? It's not like she's responsible enough to fuckin' take care of him."

"I hate to say it this way, Bobby, but maybe he's a bargaining chip." She looked up at her eldest son sympathetically and shrugged. "She obviously cares about him. Give it time, she'll realize that she can't take care of him."

"So what? We get him off of the streets so she's by herself again?"

"No, we make a deal. We'll help him, if she comes to."

"Since when have you been deceptive."

"Since always, Bobby." She stood up and walked over to her son. She placed her hand on the side of his face kindly and smiled. "How do you think I got you here?"

Bobby smirked half-heartedly and pulled Evelyn's hand off of his face. He walked into the kitchen, grabbing another bottle from the fridge and watched as entered the room. Evelyn looked over at her son and grimaced, grabbing the beer from his hand and placing it on the counter.

"Tell me what you're thinking," she demanded.

"How easily I could've killed the fucker," he admitted without a hint of remorse.

"Bobby-"

"He's out there, fuckin' putting his hands on _my_ sister!" he yelled. He set his jaw and slammed his hands on the countertop, feeling the need to hurt something, even if it was only himself. "I can't stand the thought, because it's my fault."

"How is it your fault?"

"You know."

Bobby groaned gutturally and clenched his fights again. He shoved his fists into his pockets and his knuckles brushed against his keys. Without a beat, he pulled them from his pocket and headed towards the door, Evelyn quickly following behind him.

"Bobby, where are you going?"

"I can't sit here and do nothing. Not anymore."

"Don't do something stupid," Evelyn said, grabbing his arm. "Getting yourself thrown in jail is going to do nothing to help your sister. You won't be around to help her when she finally admits she needs it."

"I'm not gonna go to jail, ma. Even if I hurt the fucker, I won't end up in jail, what's he gonna say, I picked up a fifteen year old and her beat the shit outta me?"

"Bobby-"

"Ma, I won't lay a hand on him. I just need to make sure she got back. I gotta make sure she's okay."

Evelyn let go of her son's arm reluctantly and watched him as he bounded towards his car and peeled out of the driveway, cutting off another car coming down the street. Evelyn walked back into the house and grabbed the knitting project she had resting beside the couch, determined to wait up for her son.

Bobby gripped the steeringly wheel tightly until he could no longer feel his fingers. Thoughts of his sister and the bastard whose car she had gotten into kept running through his mind. As did the phrase, it's my fault. He was never able to forgive himself for that one event. He had done terrible things, things that any person with a conscience would regret but only one thing ever got to him and it resulted in his sister's lifestyle. It was the only thing that he could think of as he finally reached the street he had dropped his sister off at.

Bobby drove down the street, ignoring the girls who smiled at him or pressed leaned their bodies closer to his car. He drove until he reached the end of it before he circled around once again. He wanted to erase the image of girls his sisters age done up to look older in clothes that left nothing to the imagination. He wanted to forget she was just like them. He looked past one particularly done up girl and noticed an old cracked window behind her, a pair of blue-green eyes peering out from the crack.

Without hesitation, Bobby pulled the car off to a side road and drove out, barely remembering to grab his keys before doing so. He made his way to the front of the warehouse and pulled on the rusted, locked door to no avail. Peering down the alleyway next to the building he noticed the piece of plywood resting against it. He ran down the alleyway and removed the wood, slipping inside the building.

Bobby looked around the row that was dimly lit by a weak fire. He noticed the boy who had been peering out the window standing just to the side of him, his back rigged and his chest quickly rising and falling with the deep, frightened breaths he continued to take. He had to be the kid Bailey mentioned before, his arms were bandaged and, like Bailey had said, he had the look of someone who could profit from the streets.

"Hey, kid, you know a girl named Bailey?" Bobby asked.

"Who are you?" Jack asked, quickly moving away from him.

"Look, I just need to know if Bailey stays here. I need to talk to her."

Bobby took a step closer to Jack, who quickly pressed his back against the wall. He put his hands up, as to show the boy that he wasn't going to hurt him, but Jack took notice of it. His eyes grew wild with fear and he stared at Bobby, shaking slightly.

"Kid, I'm-"

"Please don't hurt me," Jack whispered. He dropped to the floor, wrapped his arms around his knees as if he were trying to hold himself together. "Please."

"I ain't gonna hurt ya." He took another step closer and Jack let out a loud scream. "Shit kid."

"Jack!"

Bobby turned towards the source of his sister's voice to see her standing just inside the room. She looked over at him angrily before running towards Jack and wrapping her arms around him, fighting against his refusal to be touched with enough force that he gave in.

"Shh, sweetie, it's just me," Bailey whispered, running her hand against his neck. "Calm down, you don't have to be afraid. It's just me. I won't hurt you." She rested her chin on top of Jack's head and held him against her. "He won't hurt you either. You don't have to worry about that anymore. I won't let anyone hurt you."

Bobby watched his sister console the boy in her arms with fascination. Evelyn was right, it only took a day and already he was her weak spot. She sat in the corner with him, gently rocking him against her as if he were a baby.

"I didn't mean to scare him," Bobby finally said.

"What the fuck are you doing here?" Bailey asked angrily.

"I needed to talk to you."

"We talked enough earlier." She pressed her hand against Jack's back, forgetting about the cuts and quickly reeled away when he whimpered in pain. "I'm sorry, sweetie." She looked up at Bobby and shook her head. "I think he's had enough drama for the night. Get the fuck out of here."

"Bail-"

"Go!" She eyed him furiously when he didn't move and grabbed her shoe, chucking it at him. "I said go!"

"Fine!" Bobby yelled back, his hands up in surrender. "Make sure you fuckin' call me tomorrow, Bail."

"Okay, just go."

Bobby was leaving as he caught a glimpse of Bailey still holding onto Jack. He saw her kiss the top of his head and whisper something that seemed to calm the boy before he was outside of the warehouse. He quickly replaced the plywood door and then headed towards his car. Evelyn was right, Jack would be the perfect bargaining chip. He was determined to use that to his advantages and get his sister out of there as soon as he could.

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

**Thank You:**

**aradonai**

**BlackXValentine (Um...It's definitely going to go older, and into the movie age.)**

**CaptainSammish**

**Ghostwriter**

**Heartfallen**

**jill (Bobby has officially met Jack!) **

**joralie**

**JustAnotherFallen**

**Little Miss Creant (Bobby has found the "little hero"! LOL, but cliffhangers are fun!)**

**lovePEOLPLEandCOWBOY **

**mackie **

**Nobody's Love**

**Pen Liddin**

**pwrhungryjr **

**RKOxLOVESxME (Thank you so much for all the compliments!!)**

**windstar**

**A/N: Please review! All my reviews and readers are amazing!**


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: It's a miracle, I updated! I'm sorry I haven't been working on this or ROOL much, but school and family drama has been taking up most of my time and now I'm sick (which is the only reason I had time to work on it, I couldn't sleep). I will try to update both of these stories more often.**

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

Bailey exited the car, slamming the door shut angrily behind her. As the car spun away she quickly turned around and flipped the driver off. Stomping her way back to the alley she saw the curtain in the crappy room pulled back a bit and bright blue-green eyes peering out from within. It had been a week since Jack had shown up and every night he waited up for her. It was slightly endearing, but tonight had been bad and she had wished this one time he had been asleep. It was a lot harder to act like she didn't care about what she had just done with him around.

"Have a hard night?" a voice asked.

Bailey turned towards the girl who stood to the left of her. Her name was Scarlet, although Bailey was pretty sure that it was a made up name, and she looked twenty-five, despite the fact that she was only nineteen and tried her hardest to appear younger by braiding her badly bleached hair into pigtails. She was the person who had introduced Bailey to the streets when she had nowhere to go and the one who introduced her to drugs when she just wanted to forget. She hated Scarlet now, but knew how easy it was to be sucked in by her.

"We all get our fair share of assholes," Bailey replied.

"You get laid all the time and yet you are the most miserable people on earth," Scarlet commented. She looked back at the building behind them and smirked. "Speaking of getting laid, is that why you're keeping the little prince around? Showing him a few things?"

"He's thirteen."

"If I remember correctly, you were thirteen."

"It's different."

"Different?" Scarlet scoffed and raised her eyebrows, taking a few steps closer to Bailey. "Sweetheart, nothing is different, we all end up here with the same conclusion. You may try to protect him but he'll be standing here with us soon enough. Why not just nudge him in that direction now and save the energy, because you aren't going to save his virtue no matter how hard you try."

"Stop," Bailey said, her clenching her fists at her sides.

"Come on, Bailey. Think about it, he's a good looking guy, he won't be out here for half an hour before he gets picked up. You could make a profit off of him."

Bailey closed her eyes, feeling the anger rise in her. She hated that Scarlet was trying to recruit Jack and belittle her efforts to save him. When she opened her eyes, she saw the smirk on Scarlet's face and fought the urge to smack her.

"I couldn't live with myself, making money off of a kid," she said. Bailey shrugged and looked Scarlet in the eyes. "I guess you never taught me how to be a soulless bitch like you. Thank God for that."

"Fine, try and protect him. I just figured I'd give you the chance before I did." She laughed and threw her arms up in the air. "Maybe I'll even try him out first. See what kind of investment I'm making." She reached out and ran a hand along Bailey's neck. "Just like I did with you."

"That's it." She closed the gap between the two of them and grabbed the back of Scarlet's neck. "Touch him and I promise you that you will pay."

"I'm supposed to be scared of you?"

"No, not me. I know someone who would do it for me without a second thought."

Bailey released her grip on Scarlet and turned away from her. Shoving a hand through her hair, she looked down at the ground as she walked over to the entrance, prying away the plywood and slipping inside, trying to contain her anger. As soon as she entered the room, Jack was standing there and she looked over at him. His hair and face were dirty, patches of black smudges covering his cheeks. His abrasions were healing though and minus the incident with Bobby the first night he was there he had been relatively okay. She hated herself for a moment as she thought about what Scarlet had said, nearly considering it.

"You wait up for me or something?" Bailey asked.

"I wanted to make sure you were okay," Jack admitted meekly. He walked over to the mattress and plopped down onto it, watching Bailey as she stood at the opposite end of the room. "Are you?"

"Fuckin' perfect."

With a small sigh she headed over to the cracked mirror hanging precariously on the wall and stared at her reflection for a moment, checking the areas where she knew there were going to be bruises come morning. She pulled her hair away from her neck and pulled down the neck of her shirt, seeing the already forming purple mark on her chest. She could see Jack watching her reflection in the corner of the mirror and sighed softly, before turning around.

"What happened?" he asked.

"Nothing," she lied. She pulled on the bottom on her shirt, readjusting the fabric and smiled for him. Another lie. "Get some sleep, kid."

"Bailey, why won't you tell me what happened? I'm not a kid," Jack said, pushing himself off of the makeshift bed.

"Fine, you're not a fuckin' kid. You want to know what happened?" she asked, angrily. She pulled her hair away from her neck and yanked down the neck of her shirt. "Wanna hear how he choked me while he was fucking me? Or how he bit me right there?" she questioned, lifting her skirt so that her upper thigh was exposed. She dropped the fabric of her skirt and immediately lifted up her shirt, exposing her stomach. "How about how he couldn't find a condom so he finished off, right here?" She patted her stomach and shook her head. "You don't wanna know any of that Jack and I don't particularly want to relive it. So stop fucking asking!"

Jack took a step closer to Bailey, who quickly backed away. Catching a glimpse of her eyes, Jack noticed something in them that told him not to approach her again. He walked over to the furthest side of the room as Bailey started to pace beside the window. She muttered something angrily under her breath and then swiftly kicked the wall.

"Fuck!" she screamed in pain.

Bailey punched the wall in response and screamed again. Jack ran over to her and quickly grabbed hold of her hands, afraid that she would hurt herself again. She bowled over, suddenly crying before falling to the floor. She pulled her hands out of his grip and wrapped her arms around her knees, burying her face against them. Jack stood there watching her, unsure of what to do. When he finally got enough courage to approach her again, she lifted her head from her knees and wiped her face with her sleeve.

"Fuck, that hurt," she muttered, standing up suddenly. She looked down at her hands, her knuckles bleeding and shook her head. "I really need to learn to control my temper."

Jack watched as she made her way over to the darkened corner of the room. She shrugged off the skirt she was wearing and slipped on a pair of ratty sweatpants that would have been warmer if it weren't for the holes that adorned them. She turned to around and caught him quickly looking away and heading towards a corner at the opposite end of the room.

Readjusting the fabric so that it covered over her hips, Bailey headed towards the mattress. She took a seat on it, waiting for Jack to say something as he shuffled nervously in the corner. After a minute of nothing but silence, she settled against the mattress and pulled the blanket over body.

"I'm going to sleep, Jack. You could lie down with me or sulk by yourself in the corner," she replied, turning her back to him. "It'd hurt my ego if you didn't think I was better than a drafty corner though."

Jack smirked half-heartedly and slowly walked over to the mattress. He laid down beside her, keeping a gap between them and stared at the fire that was still burning. With a small sigh, he rolled onto his side, his face to her back and watched the way her shoulders hunched up around her neck and her body shook slightly.

"I don't mean to be a bitch," Bailey whispered when she felt his eyes on her. "I just need to be, it's easier to be for people like me."

"But you don't want to be who you are."

"No."

"Then why don't you do something else?"

Bailey laughed bitterly and turned to face him. Jack noticed her tear stained checks and smeared make up. She shook her head softly, almost condescendingly. He was aware that he didn't always understand, but there was a simple solution to this problem, he was sure of that.

"You really think I'd do this, be this, if there was any other option?" She wiped at her face angrily and looked over his shoulder. She could see the other people in the alleyway and she shrugged. "You do what you're good at to survive, Jack, even if you hate it. Even if you hate yourself for doing it."

"I don't understand."

"Part of me is really glad that you don't."

Bailey looked at him and reached up to touch the side of his face, Jack's eyes closing instantly. She noticed the contrast of his skin, pale and dirty but still soft, and the bruised and scraped skin on her knuckles. She wondered how she, someone so flawed and who, in the long run, would only hurt Jack, could comfort him.

Quickly, she pulled her hand away from him. She balled her hand up at her side and watched as he opened his eyes, searching her face for some clue to her sudden change in behavior. Jack reached out to touch her face and she pushed his hand away before he could make contact. He looked hurt as his hand retreated to his side.

"Why?" Jack asked, wondering what exactly he had done wrong.

"I don't like being touched."

Jack nodded; he knew after her blow up earlier it was not a good night to push any subject. He started to fold his arms beneath his head and go to sleep but as he closed his eyes he could feel Bailey watching him. So he opened his eyes and watched her. He knew she contemplating something in her head, wondering if she should say something, it was something she did a lot.

"Promise me something," Bailey finally said.

"What?"

"Promise me you won't do what I do."

"I won't." He narrowed his eyes at her. "But why?"

Bailey looked down at the space between them and replayed the conversation she had with Scarlet. The thought of it made her stomach turn. He was a thirteen, not a kid as he so often reminded her, but nowhere near the age where sex should even be a main concern. It didn't matter that it had occurred in his past, that hadn't been his fault, but it was not going to happen now, she was going to make sure of it. She wanted to hold onto that last glimmer of innocence that he had that would be taken away the moment he made the decision to initiate something. She wanted him to have the one thing she lacked and wanted back.

"I want you to be able to be comforted by a touch."

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

**Thank You:**

**CaptainSammish **

**Ghostwriter**

**Heartfallen**

**Little Miss Creant**

**lovePEOPLEndCOWBOY**

**Maxiekat **

**ollie-oxycotyn **

**psycho-pyro-shrink**

**Sakurabound**

**Shadow315 (No, this will not be slash. I have nothing against it but I'm just not a writer of it.)**

**windstar **

**Zafiro Okami**


	6. Chapter 6

**Author's Note: I am so sorry for the wait! I hope some of you will still continue to read and review! I honestly love the feedback both good and bad! Please excuse any errors (feel free to point them out if you wish, so I may edit), extremely tired and my mind is a little bonkers today.**

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

Bobby sat in his car, playing with the radio waiting for Bailey. This was what he hated the most, the waiting when she wasn't there. He knew where she was, what she was doing, but he hated even thinking it. He pressed another button as yet another girl approached his car. He pretended not to hear her, not to see her, and it took a minute before she finally walked away with a huff.

It was another fifteen minutes of waiting before another car pulled up behind Bobby. The passenger side door open and Bailey slipped out. He took in the sight of his sister as she walked away from the car. She slipped the money into her shirt and then glanced up, noticing Bobby's car. He eyes instantly drifted down to the ground ashamed. Every time she made a comment in reference to what she did she said it nonchalantly like it was nothing more than being a waitress but he knew that when she caught in the act it was different. She was ashamed of him seeing her like that.

Bailey shoved a hand through her hair and walked over to Bobby's car. She opened the door and then slipped inside, leaving the door open. She wrapped her arms around her body, feeling awkward sitting next to him so soon after.

"Sorry," Bailey said. She looked down at the ground beside the car and then up at her brother. "Think I could ask you a favor?"

"What?"

"I can't leave Jack here, freakin' Scarlet is trying to get her claws in him and I can't let that happen."

"Yeah, sure," he replied.

Bailey looked at her brother through narrowed eyes, surprised that it hadn't taken a bit coercion to get her way. Not wanting to jinx it, she left the car without a word. Bobby watched as his sister disappeared behind the wall and kept his eyes there until she reemerged with the scrawny boy with a mess of dirty blonde hair. He noticed the way Jack followed behind Bailey, his head down and his arms wrapped around himself.

As Bailey approached the car, Jack stopped walking, eyeing the Bobby in the front seat. She noticed that Jack stopped walking and turned back towards him, a small smile on her face. She slammed the front door shut, then quickly slid into the back, dragging him along with him.

Bobby started the car and sped out of the alleyway. It was silent the entire way there. Bobby didn't know how to address the kid that he had nearly scared half to death the last time he saw him. Bailey was the first to crack. She unbuckled her seatbelt and leaned up into the front of the car, reaching for the radio button.

"What the fuck is wrong with you?" Bobby muttered.

"What? It's too damn quiet."

"Get your ass in the backseat and put your seatbelt on."

"Yes, sir." He collapsed against the backseat and redid her seatbelt as Bobby fiddled with the radio stations. "Stop, go back."

"Fuckin' kiddin' me."

"Screw you, I like this song." She smirked at Jack and sang along. "_I'm never gonna dance again, guilty feet have got no rhythm..._"

"So, Jackie, what do you think?" Bobby asked, looking back at the kid.

Jack looked up at Bailey who was still singing along to the cheesy song. She smiled as she sang along and bumped her arm against his. Jack just shrugged, still watching Bailey who laughed at herself as she messed up a lyric.

"Apparently, I'm the only guy in the car," he said pulling into the parking lot.

When they got into the diner Bailey tried not to smile as the waitress she had dubbed the Queen of BJs only weeks ago approached. She smiled politely, trying to ignore the evil looks that she was getting from the waitress and then followed behind her to their table. She walked away to get their drinks, giving them a few minutes to decide but when she had returned Jack hadn't even looked down at the menu in front of him. She took Bobby and Bailey's order with only the slightly gruff at Bailey was giving an earnest try not to laugh. When it came to Jack, she got frustrated when the boy didn't answer. She tapped impatiently on the table causing Jack to slink further away.

"Chill the fuck out," Bailey muttered at the waitress. She rested her head on Jack's shoulder and pointed out random things on the menu, her eyes glancing up to his face to see if anything peaked his interest. "Come on, Jack, you have to eat something."

Bailey looked down at the menu and pointed to another thing and he nodded meagerly. She sighed and looked over at the waitress with a small smile, placing Jack's order, grilled cheese, before returning her head to his shoulder.

"Don't take it offensively, she just hates us," Bobby told Jack. "Bailey doesn't have a filter that tells her when she shouldn't say stuff."

"And you do?" She nodded towards his face where a dark purple circle surrounded his eye. "How exactly did you get that lovely bruise?"

"The game got a little intense. And I may or may not have said a few choice things 'bout his sister." He smirked, plucking the bottle off of the table and brought it up to his lips. "The other guy looks like a fuckin' mess."

"Nice example you set for me."

Jack looked down at his hands as the siblings bantered back and forth between one another. He looked at the dirty caked under his nails and the brown spots on his skins, addressing them with a small frown. Bailey looked up at his face, her head still on his shoulder and smiled at the faces he made about his hands.

"If you want to wash your hands, the bathroom's down and to the left," she said.

With a small nodded Jack slipped out of the booth. He pushed up the sleeves of his sweatshirt as he walked past the table. Bobby looked at the large scar forming on his arm nearly from wrist to elbow and then looked over at his sister. She was oblivious to anything but Jack as she watched him walk away, making sure he went in the right direction.

"He's pretty messed up," Bobby commented. "That scar, is that from-"

"Yeah." Bailey brought her knees up to her chest and shook her head. "This is an improvement from when I first saw him. He was so messed up, I couldn't-"

Bailey stopped talking as the waitress came to drop their food off. As the plates dropped down onto the table she looked out the window. Bobby kept his eyes on her, waiting for the moment she would start talking again, but she never did. He hated the way she took any distraction as a sign that she should just stop talking.

"I ain't seen ya like this before," Bobby said, pulling Bailey's attention from the window.

"Like what?"

"Worried."

"I am not worried," she replied defensively. She looked down at her plate, picking up a fry and tearing it into smaller pieces. "He's a kid, I'm just making sure he doesn't get hurt."

Bobby grunted, a sign of his disbelief, then looked up at Bailey. With her eyes narrowed she leaned back in her seat, keeping her glare on Bobby who ignored her. He was used to the looks she gave him, he had dealt with worse after all.

"Change of subject?" Bailey finally said, relenting.

"Sure. You know he's got a crush on you, right?" Bobby asked, smirking.

"Fucker." She sat up and rested her arms on the table, moving closer to him. "He doesn't and even if he did it would pass. It's just 'cause I showed him a little bit of kindness."

"I ain't so sure about that." He grabbed a fry off of Bailey's plate and shoved it into his mouth. "You fuckin' encourage him, Bailey."

"What?"

"Restin' your head on his shoulder, playin' with his fuckin' hair. You're flirtin' with him."

"He's thirteen." She slapped Bobby's hand away when he reached for another fry and shook her head. "I ain't listening to you anymore."

"No surprise. You always stop listenin' when you know I'm right."

Bailey grabbed a fry from her plate and chucked it at Bobby who promptly picked it up off the table and shoved it into his mouth. By the time Jack returned to the table they had started on a more appropriate conversation. Bobby had been recounting his latest hockey game, obviously embellish the tale to suit him and even though Jack had gotten back in the middle of it he seemed transfixed by the story. Bailey smirked at the look of excitement on Jack's face as Bobby went goal by goal.

Jack leaned forward, his arms resting on the table as Bobby started to show Jack how the final ten seconds had been using the salt and paper shakers as him and his opponent and a packet of sugar as the puck. Bobby took the pepper shaker, the resemble of him, and smacked the sugar off the table, sending it flying to the floor then raised his hands in the air. Bailey laughed softly Jack's eyes widened in amusement.

"Maybe one day I'll teach ya how to play," Bobby said, nodding towards Jack. "I tried to teach Bailey over there but she's fuckin' hopeless. She gets on the ice and falls on her ass."

Bailey looked between her brother and Jack and smiled. They were getting along well enough that she figured it would be okay to leave for a minute. She started to excuse herself but as soon as she slipped out of the booth Jack was beside her.

"Jack, it's the ladies room, I don't think you're supposed to follow me there," she said. She patted the booth with her hand and took a step back. "I will be right back. I also expect you to eat something by the time I get back. You're skinny as hell, Jack."

Reluctantly, Jack slid back into the booth and Bailey looked at Bobby with a small nod. As soon as she left there was an awkward silence at the table. Bobby shoveled more food into his mouth as Jack picked at the crust of his sandwich.

"Hey, kid, I'm sorry about what happened the last time I saw ya," Bobby mumbled through a mouth full of food. "I didn't mean to scare ya. I was just tryin' to find Bailey."

"You didn't scare me," he replied, his eyes darting between Bobby and the table.

"Sure I didn't." Bobby took notice of the empty glass set before Jack. "You want another drink?"

"No."

"Sure ya do." He looked around the room for the waitress but came up with nothing. "You're a kid, you like the sugar." He tapped his hand on the table and continued searching aimlessly. "Our waitress disappeared, I'll be back."

Bobby slid out of the booth and headed towards the front of the dinner in search for the waitress. He looked towards the front counter and saw Bailey shoving money across it the man. She picked up the pack of cigarettes he had placed on the table and looked up, immediately noticing Bobby standing a few feet away.

"I told you to keep an eye on Jack," she muttered.

"He needs another drink. I couldn't find the waitress. I'm not that fuckin' irresponsible." He nodded towards the carton in her hand. "When'd ya start smoking?"

"I do it when I start to get jittery," she answered, knowing that he'd understand. She tossed the pack between her hands and nodded towards the door. "I'll be right back. Keep an eye on Jack for me and I mean it. I'll be two minutes at most."

"Fine."

Bailey slipped out of the diner and into the brisk air. She smirked as she lit the cigarette and brought it up to her lips. If this was the hardest stuff she had to be addicted to for the rest of her life she would be content. She closed her eyes as she exhaled a long stream of smoke from her lips and rested her back against the building.

"Miss, can I ask you a question?"

"What?" Bailey asked, opening her eyes. She looked up at the man, her eyes gliding over him as she took another drag on her cigarette.

"My son went missing a few days ago, I was just wondering if you could look at this, see if you've seen him around," he replied, holding out a piece of paper to her.

Bailey took it as she pulled the cigarette from her mouth. Jack Ryan. She looked down at the picture that stared at from the paper, Jack's face stared back at her. She traced the familiar curve of his Jack with her hand that held the cigarette.

"You fuckin' bastard. A few days? Try three weeks," Bailey said before she could stop herself.

"You've seen him?"

"No." She replied, crumpling the paper up and shoving it into his chest. "Never seen him before."

Bailey started to walk away when the man's hand gripped onto her arm, stopping her from getting beyond the door. She tried to pull out but he kept his hold tight.

"Miss-"

"Get your fuckin' hands off of me!" She kicked at his shin and he let go.

"What the-"

"Pedophile!" Bailey screamed, taking a step away from the man. "You're a fuckin' pathetic, disgusting piece of shit."

Bobby turned his attention to the sound of his sister yelling. She was standing outside the diner, her mouth going a mile a minute as some man who was just started to stand up grabbed onto her arm.

"Come on, Jack," Bobby said, slipping out of the booth.

Running through the diner, Jack just behind him, he got closer to the sight and he saw Bailey force the cigarette in her hand against the man's arm. He cursed under his breath at his sister's display of anger. He was ready to pull her off the man, deeming it another one of her hissy fits when the man's arm extended to smack her.

"Hey!" Bobby yelled, stopping the guy in mid air. He grabbed the back of the man's shirt and in one swift move pulled him away from his sister then slammed him against the wall. "What the fuck do you think you're doing?"

"She knows where my son is!"

"And that gives you the right to hit her? Who the fuck do you think you are?" He slammed him against the wall again and smirked as the guy grimaced. "Who's your son?"

"Jack Ryan."

Bobby looked towards the diner, where Jack stood frozen in the doorway. He hadn't noticed until then that the boy wasn't by his side. Unconsciously, his hand loosened on Mr. Ryan's shirt and slid up to his neck. Bobby turned back to him and tightened his grip on his neck.

"We don't know any Jack Ryans."

"She said-"

"She was mistaken." His hand rose on Mr. Ryan's neck forcing his head upward. "I suggest you fuckin' leave now. Get in your car and don't come back."

Bobby let go of the man and he nodded wordlessly. He watched as Jack's foster father headed toward his car and took off. Bailey looked at her brother in disbelief, angry that he let him just get away.

"You're just going to let him go like that?" Bailey asked, shoving her brother. "That motherfucker is Jack's foster father. He touched Jack! He's a fuckin' monster!"

"Ya think I don't get that?" Bobby replied, lowering his voice. "Jack is watching. He ain't gonna trust either of us if we beat the shit outta that guy. He'll get scared and he'll fuckin' run. At least if you're with him, he ain't in as much danger."

"Call the fuckin' cops then."

"They hate me and you're a fuckin' prostitute who just burned a hole in the guy's fuckin' arm, who do you think they're going to believe?"

"I'm a great liar."

"Get Jack. We're leaving," he said, ignoring her last statement.

Bailey glanced back at the diner and at Jack who stood in the middle of the doorway. She walked over to him, calling it his name to snap him from his trance. She was directly in front of him before she finally got him to acknowledge her. She forced a smile to her face not caring how fake it was, just needing something to show the boy.

"Hey, come on, babe," she said, gently ruffling his hair. "Let's go home."

Jack looked up at with a small nod and wrapped an arm around her waist, leaning against her for support as the walked to the car. Bobby was already in his seat waiting for them. As soon as Bailey and Jack were seated he started the car and headed away from the diner. Bailey, who was preoccupied with making sure Jack was okay didn't notice the direction they were going in until they passed the old vo-tech school. She looked up at her brother, catching his eyes in the rearview mirror.

"Fucker, you're going in the wrong direction."

"You're staying at Evelyn's tonight so that I can take care of some business without worrying about your ass," he replied.

"Hell no. I am not becoming some charity case."

"One fuckin' night does not make you a charity case," Bobby muttered, the creases in his forehead making their presence known.

"No."

"Bailey-"

"Robert-"

"Obstinate fuckin' bitch," he muttered, turning the car down a corner.

Bobby started to slow down and pull off to the side so that he could talk to Bailey without causing an accident when he realized there was a truck behind them, slowing down as well. Bailey had started to yell at him but he kept his eyes on the rearview mirror as he pulled back closer to the yellow divider line. The truck behind them did so as well.

"Bailey shut up," Bobby said, looking speeding the truck up. The truck behind them kept up. "Fuck." He tapped his hand against the wheel. "Jack, what kind of car does your foster father drive?"

"A blue one," he replied, meekly.

"A blue one? What kind of answer-" He stopped himself from saying anything else and then glanced back at Jack. "Is it a car, a truck, a fuckin' Lamborghini?"

"A blue pick up...Chev-roll-it?"

"Fuck."

Bailey looked out the window and noticed the car behind them. She turned back around just as Jack was about to turn to look out the window. She wrapped her arm around him and shook her head, pulling her closer to him.

"What is it?" Jack asked.

"Nothing, sweetie."

"Jack, I gotta stop the car and talk to someone. You stay in the car. Don't fuckin' get out, got me?"  
Jack nodded as Bobby started to slow the car down again. He rounded a corner quickly, blocking off the car behind him from getting down the alleyway. The blue pick up continued down the road and then, clear as day, Bobby heard the truck's engine cut off.

"What are you doing here?" Bobby asked as Mr. Ryan headed towards the car.

"I just want to get this settled," he said. "I don't want my son living here when he can be back home with me. In a warm house, not on a street corner with a prostitute and her pimp."

"Don't fuckin' talk about my sister like that," Bobby warned him, taking a step closer to the man.

Jack gripped tightly onto Bailey's arm. She started to undo her seatbelt, wanting to get out of the car to help her brother, after all he hadn't said that she had to stay out of the way, but Jack refused to let go. She glanced back at him, noticed the terror in her eyes and she could feel anger rising again. She hated the man more than she thought was possible but couldn't find the strength to leave Jack alone in the car.

"Jack, come on out, son," Mr. Ryan said.

"Don't fuckin' talk to him."

"Jack, I'm not mad. I just need to talk to you."

There was so much in his voice that scared Jack. He knew that tone, it was the same way he sounded when Jack accidentally broke the cup in his hand when company was over. It was the tone that said he was making Mr. Ryan look bad in front of people. Without thinking about it, Jack let go of Bailey's hand. He started to slid to the other side of the car and reached for the door, afraid of what Mr. Ryan was capable of. He didn't want the people trying to help to get hurt.

"Jack, no," Bailey said, reaching for his hand. "Bobby said to stay here, so we're going to-"

"I have to," he replied cryptically. He pulled his hand from hers and looked down at it. "I'm sorry."

"No, you don't have to-"

Jack slipped out of the car and stood to the side of Bobby, his eyes drifting between his foster father and his friend's brother. Bailey quickly got out behind him. She stood to the side of Jack and kept her glance on him, trying to gauge what was going on through his expressionless face.

"Tell them the truth," he pleaded, looking over Bobby's shoulder.

He eyed Jack in a way that reminded him all the times he made him lie to his foster mother. The conniving smile, the look that was hidden beneath the surface that warned you to agree with him or else. He kept his distance from Mr. Ryan, standing Bailey, holding onto her hand for strength.

"Jack, son, these people have the wrong idea about me, right?" Mr. Ryan reached out to stroke Jack's cheek. He stepped back instantly, a small squeak escaping his tightly clasped lips. Bailey smacked the hand away and stepped between him and Jack.

"Don't touch him," Bailey said.

"He's my son, don't tell me what I can or can't do."

Jack noticed the look in his foster father's eyes. It was a look he was used to. It meant that in a minute he was going to break and he was giving that look to Bailey. He wasn't brave, he never had been, but Jack couldn't let Bailey be on the end on one of Mr. Ryan's beatings, one that he was sure was his fault anyway. He gently stepped to the side of Bailey and cast his eyes down as he took a step closer to him.

"Jack, stay!" Bobby yelled.

"It's okay," he whispered. Bailey reached out for him but he avoided her grip. "It's okay," he repeated, looking at her. "I'll be okay."

Bailey went after him but Bobby stood in front of her, his gaze kept on the man before him as he embraced Jack. He felt sick to his stomach at the fake embrace between what was supposed to be father and son.

"I'm sorry for the misinterpretation earlier. Jack's got a creative mind."

"Jack, sweetie, you don't have to hide it if you're scared," Bailey said, looking at Jack who now refused to look at her. "Jack-"

"We'll be leaving now."

"No!" she yelled, darting out towards Jack, Bobby instantly blocking her. "No, Jack!"

Before she could even get another word out Jack and Mr. Ryan were leaving the corner. She smacked Bobby across the face angrily and took a step away from him, tears filling her eyes as she realized that she was probably never going to see Jack again.

"I hate you. How could you just..." She cut herself off and started to run after them but Bobby stopped her. "Move asshole."

"You can't go over there."

"I can't let him hurt Jack. He's going to kill him! How can you not care?"

"He'll kill you."

"I don't give a fuck."

A loud scream sounded out from down the street that Jack had disappeared down. Bailey froze, her eyes wide with fear. Bobby quickly grabbed her arm, knowing her next move before she did. He started to pull her away from the street but she wrestled against him. He hated to admit it, but the first thing he thought was why couldn't he have waited until he got home. He was quickly pulled from his thoughts as he felt Bailey bite down on his arm.

"Bitch," he muttered, his grip on her arm getting tighter.

"What the fuck, Bobby?" Bailey yelled, desperately trying to pull out of her brother's grasp. She smacked him harshly with her free hand and kicked at his legs. "Let me go, asshole! It's Jack, I can't..." She looked up at her brother frantic for help. "Please."

"Stay put. Or I swear to God, Bail-"

"Just fuckin' go!"

Bobby took off and ran towards where he heard the sounds coming from. He wasn't even hidden; he was standing out by the car beneath a streetlight, kicking at the kid on the ground. Mr. Ryan reached down and grabbed Jack by the hair, pulling him up from the ground eliciting a loud wail from the boy. Bobby reached into his back pocket, fingering the weapon he kept there just in case. Sauntering over to the man, his hand hidden behind his back, he yelled out Jack's name.

"Oh, what the fuck do you want now?"

"We need to have a talk," Bobby replied, pulling out the gun. He shrugged as he pointed it at Mr. Ryan. "Let him go."

Jack's eyes grew at the sight of the shining weapon in Bobby's hand. He slid away from his foster father who was now distracted by the seemingly disturbed man standing before him. He got to his feet and ran as he heard the sound of the gun going off into the air.

Bailey, who had remained as her brother had told her, heard the gun go off and felt a pang in her chest. She couldn't wait there and not know any longer. She ran around the corner, catching Bobby throwing Mr. Ryan against the wall just as Jack ran down the road that lead away from the scene. She took off after him, running past her brother as she slammed the bastard's head against the brick wall and hearing a cracking nose as the man made contract with brick.

"Jack!" Bailey yelled.

Jack looked behind him, still running, not noticing Bailey, only the sight of his foster father lying on the gravel, Bobby standing over him. He took another step, his eyes still focused on the scene behind him and falter, smacking into the ground. It only slowed him down a bit, he quickly started to crawl on the cracked pavement, broken pieces of asphalt and debris cutting his hands and knees. He had gotten a little bit further from where he had fallen when Bailey had finally caught up to him.

Without worrying about the pain, she quickly dove down to him, stopping him from crawling further. He was startled at first, backing away as if she were his faster foster and not the girl who had been taking care of him. She reached out for his hand and his eyes looked down at the hand with cracked black nail polish caressing his skin. It took a moment before he finally looked up at her face and with a loud audible howl, collapsed against her body.

"Don't-" he sputtered out in between sobs. "Don't let him near me."

"I won't."

Bobby pressed the barrel against Mr. Ryan's head, relishing the feeling of power he had over the man who used his own power to intimidate a kid like Jack. He felt eyes on the back of her head and knew that just down the street his sister was watching. He turned to face her and took a moment to watch her cradling Jack, trying to protect him from the sight. He had to stop before he killed him, he knew that despite the voice telling him to just give into impulse and take care of that man in front of him once and all. He groaned and put the gun away with a loud huff.

"Go near him or my sister again and I'll kill you," Bobby said, slamming Mr. Ryan against the wall. "Do you understand me?"

Bobby didn't give him a moment to answer. He slammed his fist into his nose, smiling in perverse pleasure as he felt the crack of bone beneath his fist. He pulled him away from the wall and shoved him against the car. Bobby dropped the fabric he was using to hold the man up and watched as he slumped towards the ground.

"Get in your fuckin' car and leave!"

Bailey watched from the ground as Mr. Ryan stumbled towards his car, blood dripping down his face. She hadn't gotten Bobby to stop because she thought he could be saved, she just couldn't bare Jack having to see what she seen when she was younger. She pressed her lips to his forehead and closed her eyes as she waited for the man to leave.

"Motherfuckin' piece of shit!" Bobby screamed, kicking at the side of the building. "Is Jack okay?"

"He will be," she replied, slowly opening her eyes.

Bobby turned around to face her just as Jack's foster father's car sped away. He grabbed a rock off of the ground and chucked it at the car, screaming angrily again. The louder his voice got the tighter Jack clutched onto Bailey. He rocked him against her slowly, watching her brother calm down and head towards them.

"Come on, we're leavin'," Bobby said. He grabbed his sister's arm and tried to pull her up from the ground but she wouldn't budge. "Bailey, get your fuckin' ass up right now."

"Where are we going?"

"Away from here. I got a feelin' he's comin' back tonight."

Bailey looked down at Jack, who seemed oblivious to the conversation going on around him. She kissed the top of his head before releasing him slowly. His hands gripped onto her body tightly as she tried to get him to loosen his grip. Bobby watched his sister carefully pry the desperate boy's hands from her body and got angry with the man. He couldn't understand the level of evil in a person who would hurt someone so innocent.

"Jack, you have to let me go," Bailey whispered against his hair. "Just get up, okay? As soon as we get up we can get going and you won't have to let go again."

Jack nodded softly and relinquished his grip. Bailey got to her feet first and held her hand out to help him. Grabbing onto it, Jack stood and then quickly moved closer to her, so that he was resting hip to hip with her. She smiled down at him half-heartedly, and kissed the top of his head.

Jack was the first to slide into the car, releasing Bailey's hand for a moment so that she could get in. When she stopped to turn and face Bobby before entering herself he quickly slid closer to the side of the car she was standing at and grabbed at her hand. Bobby took notice of the intensity in his grip, how his knuckles turned white and his fingernails dug into Bailey's hand without her taking notice of what he assumed would have hurt like hell.

"Thank you."

"You're a fuckin' pain in the ass," Bobby replied.

Bailey nodded and slipped into the car. She wrapped her free arm around Jack, pulling him closer so that she could rest her chin on the top of his head. As Bobby got behind the wheel he looked into the rearview window and noticed Isabelle softly humming something against Jack's crown of hair. Throwing the car into reverse he sped out of the alleyway and onto the main road.

When they arrived at the motel, miles away from town, Jack and Bailey stayed in the car as Bobby headed into the office to check-in. She kept her arms around Jack, rocking him gently against her. She had tried to loosen his grip but the minute she had he had just grabbed onto her tighter, making sure there was nothing between the two of them.

"Come on, outta the car," Bobby yelled, slamming his hand down on the top of the car.

"Fuck!" Bailey yelled as Jack jumped suddenly. She looked out the car window at her brother who stood to the side of it a smug smirk on his face. "Bastard."

As Bailey and Jack exited the car Bobby looked at his sister's outfit and muttered something under his breath that she ignored as if were second nature by that point. He slid his jacket off, tossing it on top of the car then quickly removed her hoodie tossing to Bailey. She held the shirt out in her extended arm and looked at Bobby confused.

"Hooker and a hotel room, think about it Bailey."

Bailey grabbed Bobby's hand and yanked him closer to her, placing his hand over Jack's so that she could slip into the oversized sweatshirt. Bobby watched the younger kid, who didn't dare look up at him despite clutching to his hand so tightly he felt like he might break his hand if he so much as moved a finger.

"Come on, Jack," Bailey said, pulling his hand off of Bobby's. "Let's go get you cleaned up."

Grabbing his jacket off of the hood of the car, Bobby made his way to the hotel room leading the teenagers behind him. He unlocked the door effortlessly and flicked the light on. To put it plainly, it was a dump, but it was the best he could do without first talking to Evelyn. He stepped out of the way so that Jack and Bailey could slip into the room.

Without even a glance at their surrounding area, Bailey lead Jack to the bed and had him sit down. She knelt in front of him, taking in his injuries carefully and pursing her lips together to keep herself from crying.

"Hey I gotta talk to ya," Bobby said, nodding towards the door as he slipped his coat back on.

"Sure." She stood up slowly, her hand running against Jack's cheek. "I'll be right outside if you need me." She walked towards the window, pulling back the curtains a bit. "Just look straight ahead, you'll see me. I won't leave your sight, I promise.

Bobby headed towards the door and with one more look back at Jack, Bailey followed. Once she was outside of the room she looked in through the window at Jack who was anxious tapping his fingers against his thigh his eyes staring at her.

"You're stayin' here for a few days," Bobby informed her.

"No fuckin' way," Bailey muttered, tearing her eyes away from Jack. "I got a job."

"You're on fuckin' vacation as of now," he replied. He grabbed her face inbetween his hands and held it tightly. "Let it sink into your fuckin' thick skull that this asshole will find you again. He's gonna hurt you to get to Jack. So stay in this damn room and don't leave until I fuckin' say so! You can tell me you hate me, tell me to fuck off, I've heard it all before, it don't hurt my feelings no more. I'm doing this for a reason, though, just fuckin' believe that."

Bobby released her from his grip and looked through the window at Jack who was sitting on the bed, rocking back and forth. He nodded towards him, getting Bailey to look at the same sight. She dropped her head slightly and nodded.

"I give you two days."

"You'll give me as much fuckin' time I as want." He looked back towards the window. "Deny all ya want, but you love that kid as much as I love you. You'd do anything to protect him."

"If you knew that, why were you gonna let Mr. Ryan leave with Jack?" she asked.

"I had a plan," he informed her. He reached into his jacket pocket and held out the wallet. "Look familiar? People are stupid to keep their fuckin' IDs where anyone could get to them, figure out where they live just from their driver's license. Maybe I was gonna show up at his house, have a nice little chat with him. After that, get Jack out, take him to the hospital, then Evelyn's house." He shoved the wallet back into his jacket and looked at his sister. "I just had to alter my plans when the bastard decided he couldn't fuckin' wait."

Bailey looked up at him for a moment before dropping his gaze again. He wrapped his arms around her, pulling her tightly to his chest. She groaned, trying to get out of his grip.

"Let me go," she muttered, pushing against him. She took a step away when her released her and nodded. "Just don't take advantage of my cooperation."

"Cooperation my ass. I'll be back tomorrow to check up on the two of you."

Bobby started to walk away but Bailey couldn't leave it at that. She called out his name and he stopped and turned to face his sister with a fake grimace on his face like she had interrupted him. She didn't say anything for a moment, just stared at him hoping that wouldn't actually have to ask him the question to get an answer.

"What are you going to do?" Bailey finally asked after a minute of silence.

"Have a little talk," he replied with a shrug. Bailey went to retort but her cut her off. "Go inside and don't fuckin' worry 'bout it."

"Whatever you do, and I know you're gonna do something stupid, don't get caught. I need my brother."

"Ain't no one gonna catch me. I'm Bobby fuckin' Mercer." He smirked and walked over to her, readjusting the oversized hoodie on her shoulders. "Now go inside and take a shower. Wash that fuckin' makeup off your face."

Bailey raised her middle finger to Bobby before turning away from him. He watched as his she walked into the motel room before he headed to his car. He opened the driver's side door and slipped his hand into his pocket. Under the light from the streetlamp above him he rummaged through the wallet in his hand, pocketing the money and pulling out the ID. He read the address off the driver's license to himself and then slipped into the car. As he started the old Chevy he tossed the wallet to the side.

"Time to pay you a visit, Mr. Ryan."

Bailey locked the door to the motel room behind her and rested her back against the door. She looked towards Jack who was still rocking on the bed, his eyes staring off into space. She hated seeing him like that and it took her a moment before she looked away. She darted towards the dresser and grabbed the ice bucket, deciding that busying herself would be the best way to keep her mind from wandering.

"You did some damage to that pretty face of yours," Bailey joked as she headed into the bathroom to fill the bucket. As the water began to pour into container she turned back to him watching from the doorway. "Hopefully it won't scar."

"I want a scar." He stopped rocking when he spoke and looked up at her for a moment, before looking back off into space. "People like him won't want me anymore."

"If scars stopped anyone I'd be out of a job," she replied, cynically. She shut off the water and grabbed the bucket hastily, the water sloshing against the sides. "Personally, I don't think you should have a scar, but you know, sometimes girls like scars. It's that whole bad boy mystique thing."

"Do you?"

"Nope." She smiled and ran the washcloth against his cheek, cleaning the scrape carefully. "I've got enough experience to know that underneath the bad boy with a scar isn't a nice guy, it's an asshole. I've dealt with enough assholes in my life already. I like 'em nice now."

"You'll never like me then."

"What are you talking about? You're a nice kid, Jack."

"I've got scars."

"So do I." She dipped the washcloth into the water again and rung it out before swiping it across his injured skin. "So how about we try to keep you one scar less and as for the other ones, we'll just make sure you disprove the theory and stay a nice guy."

"And you'll stay a nice girl," Jack added, looking at her.

"Yeah."

Bailey dipped her head down towards the floor, avoiding his gaze. In the short time that she had known Jack, she had learned one irrefutable fact, he had the kind of eyes that once they were locked in on you it was difficult to look away. The kind of intense gaze that tells you wordlessly how he felt, how he felt about you. She knew long before Bobby knew that Jack had more than a passing crush on her, but she tried to pass it off to make herself feel better for leading him on, because after years of doing what she did, she didn't know how not to lead a guy on, even when she was distinctly trying not to.

"Damn, you hurt your knee, too," Bailey said, pretending that she had been examining his leg. She pressed her hand to the around surrounding the blood stained ripped denim. "Does it hurt?"

"It's okay."

"I used to know how to sew. I figure sewing's probably like ridin' a bike, you know, a skill you never forget," she said, pointing towards the rip in Jack's jeans. "But I think that's beyond my help."

Jack nodded his head, a signal that he had heard her as she grabbed the washcloth and pressed it to wound. He flinched as the threads brushed against the cut. Bailey noticed, peeking up at him for a moment, before going back to work on the cut.

"I'll get Bobby to take us to the drug store tomorrow so that I can a bandage for you."

She pulled at the denim so that it didn't stick to his skin and gave the area one last brush before she dropped the washcloth back into the bucket. The water had turned a pinkish hue against the beige plastic of the container and her stomach sank a bit. As she stood she kept her eyes on the carpet of the room. Between the blood in the water and the look of defeat in Jack's face she needed to get away from him if only for a moment.

"You should probably try to get some sleep," Bailey said, nodding towards the bed. "I'm just going to take a shower. Call me if you need me, okay?"

Bailey waited for Jack to nodded before she slid into the bathroom as if she was escaping a room full of monsters, not a thirteen-year-old boy. She dumped the offending bucket into the sink and then looked at her reflection in the mirror straight across from her. She sighed, she couldn't believe that she had gotten herself or her brother involved in a situation like the one they were in now. She hated being involved in people's lives, tried to avoid the strings that connected her to people, yet she couldn't find a way to disconnect from Jack.

Quickly, she turned the shower on, letting the water get as hot as it could. She waited until the mirrors were completely fogged over before stripping off her clothes, throwing all of them to the ground carelessly, except for the sweater her brother had given her. She rested the hoodie on the towel rack then stepped into the shower.

As soon as the water hit her body she felt the sting of the tears in her eyes. She had waited until she was away from Jack to let her guard down, to be human and feel something. She needed to be strong for him, but behind closed doors it was no longer necessary. She shoved her hands through the tangled mess of hair and rested her head against the tiled wall. She stayed like that for a good twenty minutes, letting her tears mix with that shower water, before she even attempted to get clean.

An hour after she had first entered the bathroom she reemerged in Bobby's over sized hoodie and little else, assuming Jack would have been sleeping. As soon as she opened the door though, she was eye to eye with Jack, sitting on the edge of the bed closest to the bathroom door. She tugged self-consciously on the fabric of the hoodie and took a step closer to him.

"What are you still doing up?" Bailey asked. She sat besides him on the bed, pulling her legs underneath the fabric covering her so all that could be seen were her feet. "I thought you were going to try to sleep."

"I'm not tired."

"He's not going to find you, Jack," she replied, acknowledging the real reason. She ran a hand along his cheek and sighed softly. "I promise you."

"How can you be so sure?"

"Bobby would never let him. I would never let him."

Bailey stood up and walked over to the head of the bed, pulling back the covers. She held her hand out to him and he reached over grabbing it, before standing and walking over to where she stood. Patting the bed with her free hand, she signaled for Jack to get in. He obeyed, slowly sitting down on the mattress then sliding his feet under the blankets. Bailey reached for the edge of the blanket and covered him, tucking the sides in around him.

"Warm?"

"Yeah, but I'm still not tired."

"Then we'll watch TV," she replied. She grabbed the remote off of the nightstand and walked over to the other side of the bed. "I haven't watched anything in years."

Bailey held out the remote to Jack as she sat down on the bed and he took it timidly. He flipped through it for a few minutes, passing by channels of infomercials and various news programs before landing on a cartoon. She smiled as she noticed the way Jack watched it, almost embarrassed to enjoy it but not looking away. He settle in against the bed, his arm resting against hers and within fives minutes he was sleeping.

After waiting a few more minutes to make sure he was asleep, Bailey shut the television off and then reached for the light switch, darkening the room. She then slipped out of bed and walked over to the window. Peering from behind the thick curtains that smelled of mildew, she watched the cars zoom past the motel on the highway. Desperately, she wanted to run up to one of them, hitchhike a ride away from the tangled mess she was in at the moment. Despite all the wanting she couldn't find the will to.

Pressing her forehead to the cool glass, she closed her eyes, the rushing of headlights past her blurring behind her lids. A loud horn dragged her from her thoughts and she opened her eyes, cars speeding past again, seemingly faster than before. As was about to close her eyes again a soft murmur from the other side of the room caught her attention. She turned towards Jack, restlessly tossing in his sleep, sounds escaping his lips that got louder by the second.

Bailey took a step away from the window, slowly making her way to him. The once incoherent moans sounded out repeatedly began to form words commonly heard in a struggle. Her pace quickened so that before another could slip from his lips, she was at his side, hand resting on his arm as he struggled against the covers and muttered words of self-defense.

"Jack, wake up," she whispered as sweetly as she could muster. He fought against the hold she had on his arm as she stroked his skin softly. "It's just me, Bailey."

"No!" he yelled, his arm shooting out in his sleep, making contact with the side of Bailey's face.

With a soft thud, she fell to the ground, his moans of pain getting louder. Without a thought about the pain she was in she jumped back to her feet, whispering to Jack again, trying anything she could think of to wake him. She grabbed his hand once more, entwining their fingers while shaking him with her free hand.

"Jack, no one's going to hurt you. It's just me."

Jack moved away from the hand shaking him suddenly, but gripped tighter onto the one intertwined with his own. He brought his knees up to his chest as Bailey pulled her hand out of his and reached for the light. When she looked back at him, he was rocking himself again, the tangled comforter and sheets tossed to the side of the bed.

"He's here," Jack said, searching the room with frenzied eyes.

"No, he's not," Bailey replied. She knelt down on the bed, pressing her hands to the sides of his face. "It's just you and me. No one else."

"I heard him." He looked up at her, focusing on her face. "I felt him."

"You were dreaming. I've been awake the entire time, he wasn't here."

Jack slowly slid his legs away from his chest and looked up at Bailey. He noticed the red mark on the side of her face. Reaching out towards her cheek, Jack gently ran the back of his hand against it. It took a moment before Bailey pulled away.

"What happened?" Jack asked, his eyes focusing on her injured cheek.

"Nothing."

"I did that, didn't-"

"No, baby, I got in the way of your hands while you were dreaming." She smiled at him and shook her head. "It wasn't like you did it on purpose."

"I'm sorry."

Bailey nodded and started to get up from the bed. As she took a step she felt his hand close around hers.

"How about I stay here for a bit," she said, making it sound more like her suggestion than his need.

Bailey sat on the edge of the bed, holding onto his hand. He moved as she sat, giving her room to lie down, but she remained upright, back against the headboard. Her eyes fixated on a patch of skin that was exposed when he shirt had ridden up. Large, ugly bruises worse than the ones before, we attached to his ribs. She quickly reached down, pulling the fabric across the marks and he grimaced and took a sharp breath at the contact.

"I'm sorry," Bailey blurted out suddenly. She started to pull away from him, afraid that she was just going to hurt him again but Jack refused to let go of her hand.

"I'm scared, don't leave." He looked at her and she could see the tears he was fighting back. Bailey moved back to the bed and closed her arms around him. "It doesn't go away. I close my eyes and it doesn't go away."

Bailey didn't need for him to explain anymore, she knew exactly what he meant by it. She stared at the wall, her own memories that never went away flooding back to her. It wasn't until she felt Jack move closer to her, sitting up so that he could rest his head in the crook of her neck, that she remember where she was. She tightened her grip on his hand and looked down at it, watched how effortlessly she could entwined their fingers and hold onto a piece of someone.

Bailey had screwed up, she knew it. She was attached to him, tied to him in away that she had never been before to anyone, not even with Bobby. He had let her in and slowly, piece by piece, she was letting him into her world as well. No matter how strong the urge to run would be, she would never be able to get away now.

Somehow, being tied down wasn't as scary as she had once thought.

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

**Thank You:**

**aradonai**

**Ghostwriter**

**Little Miss Creant**

**Maxiekate**

**nickdra**

**psycho-pyro-shrink**

**ShadowWolfDagger**

**Note: The song Bailey is sing is "Careless Whisper" by Wham**


End file.
